Machines for manufacturing sockets for use in cooperation with plug-in members



March 6, 1962 F. R. BONHOMME 3,023,789

MACHINES FOR MANUFACTURING SOCKETS FOR USEL IN COOPERATION WITH PLUG-IN MEMBERS Filed Sept. 21, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 6; 1962 F. R. BONHOMME 3,023,789

MACHINES FOR MANUFACTURING SOCKETS FOR USE IN I COOPERATION WITH PLUG-IN MEMBERS Filed Sept. 21, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,023,789 MACHINES FOR MANUFACTURING SOCKETS FOR USE IN CQOPERATION WITH PLUG-IN MEMBERS Francois Robert Bonhomme, Courbevoie, France, as-

signor to Curtiss-Wright Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 57,489 Claims priority, application France Sept. 22, 1959 3 Claims. (Cl. Mil-93) The present invention relates to a machine for mann facturing sockets for use in cooperation with plug-in members (to ensure electrical or thermal contact), such sockets being of the type including a multiplicity of elementary contact wires stretched inside a rigid cylindrical sleeve where they are located, at rest, along the generatrices of one family of generatrices of a hyperboloid of revolution about the axis of said sleeve, said wires being fixed by wedging of their bent ends between the outer wall of said sleeve and the respective inner walls of two rings slipped with a force fit on the respective ends of said sleeve, said machine comprising a support having a cylindrical ovrehanging portion capable of accommodating said sleeve thereon and provided with a multiplicity of rectilinear grooves having all the same obliquity with respect to said axis and adapted to receive said wires, the remainder of said support forming, at the root of said cylindrical portion, an abutment shoulder for said sleeve mounted on said portion.

Such a socket and the method of manufacturing it have been described in my copending U.S. patent application Ser. N0. 795,031, filed February 24, 1959.

When carrying out this method, there is some difliculty in bringing the wires into the position, dimension and shape necessary to permit the engagement of the above mentioned rings thereon. One of the purposes of the invention is to provide a machine which eliminates this difficulty.

According to the present invention, the machine comprises four elements aligned along said axis, the first of these elements being said support, the second of said elements being a push-piece located opposite said cylindrical portion, the third and fourth of said elements being respectively a casing mounted for slidably guiding said support and a casing for slidably guiding said push-piece, means operatively connected with said casing for moving them axially toward and away from each other, and spring means interposed between each of said two firstmentioned elements and the corresponding casing for urg ing said two first mentioned elements toward each other, the spring means interposed between said push-piece and the corresponding casing being weaker than the other spring means, said two first mentioned elements having respective end faces located opposite each other adapted to pinch between them and to bend outwardly any wire end extending beyond said end face of said support, said two casings having respective end faces located opposite each other arranged to cooperate together in shearing fashion and located radially beyond the cylindrical surface of said cylindrical portion of said support and, in the axial direction, approximately at the level of said abutment shoulder when said support is pushed to the maximum distance against the action of said spring means interposed between it and the corresponding casing.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawing given merely by way of example and in which:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically shows an electrical connector including a socket such as is to be manufactured by the machine according to the present invention.

3,023,789 Patented Mar. 6, 1962 FIG. 2 shows, partly in axial section and partly in perspective view, a portion of the machine according to this invention.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are axial sectional views of a portion of the machine for three different relative positions of the elements thereof.

As shown by FIG. 1, the socket comprises a multiplicity of elementary contact wires 1 stretched inside a rigid sleeve 2, where they are located along the generatrices of the same family of a hyperboloid of revolution. These wires are fixed by wedging of their bent ends 1a and 119 between the outer wall of sleeve 2 and the inner walls of two rings 3 and 4 slipped with a force fit on the ends of said sleeve. Ring 3 is provided with a central hole whereas ring 4 carries a hollow extension 5 adapted to accommodate a conductor 6. The plug-in member F, which also carries an extension 8 adapted to receive a conductor 9, can bear, in the region of the hyperboloid throat, against the elementary wires 1, and deforms them resiliently. It will be understood that an electrical connection can thus be provided between conductors 6 and 9.

As shown by FIGS. 2 to 5, the machine intended to manufacture the above described socket comprises a support 10 having a cylindrical overhanging portion 11 adapted to receive socket 2 by sliding engagement of said socket on said portion 11 until the edge of socket 2 is in contact with an abutment shoulder 12 formed on said support It Cylindrical portion 11 is provided with rectilinear grooves 13, all inclined at the same angle with respect to the axis XX of said portion 11, extensions of said grooves being also provided in shoulder 12. These grooves serve to position the elementary wires 1, these wires being introduced on the side of said shoulder so as to project from the free end of cylindrical portion 11.

The machine comprises four elements aligned along axis XX, to wit, the above mentioned support 10, a push-piece 14, a casing 15 slidably surrounding support 10 and a casing 16 slidably supporting push-piece 14. The machine also includes means for moving casings 15 and 16 axially with respect to each other. Preferably casing 15 is fixed whereas casing 16 is movable, the above mentioned means being diagrammatically illustrated at 17 on FIG. 3 and being operated either manually or through any suitable power means. Casing 15 is of tubular shape and a spring 18 is interposed between it and support 10 so as to urge toward the outside the cylindrical portion 11 of said support. Casing 16 is also of tubular shape and a spring 19 is interposed between it and push-piece 14 so as to urge said push-piece toward support 10. Spring 19 is weaker than spring 18 and its force may be adjusted by means of a screw 20.

Push-piece 14 has a cup-shaped end face 21 and cylindrical portion 11 has a flat end face 22, these two faces being adapted to pinch between them and to bend any wire portion projecting from oblique grooves 13. Furthermore, casings 15 and 16 have respective end faces 23 and 24 adapted to cooperate together in shearing fashion, and disposed. radially beyond cylindrical surface 11 and, in the axial direction, approximately at the level of shoulder 12 when support 10 is pushed back toward the left in its limit position against the action of spring 18 (FIG. 5). To constitute these two last mentioned end faces, to wit 23 and 24, it is advantageous, as shown by FIGS. 3 to 5, to make the opposed ends of casings 15 and 16 such that they can engage -into each other with a radial play smaller than the diameter of wires 1.

Advantageously, as shown, an abutment is provided at some distance beyond the end face 22 of cylindrical portion 11 so as to limit'the distance to which a wire of any length introduced in a groove 13 can project beyond said end face 22, this abutment being operatively connected with casings 15 and 16 so that when said casings are moved toward each other, the abutment is automatically moved outwardly so asto bend the portion of the wirein contact therewith.

For this purpose, as shown, the above mentioned abutment consists of a lever 25 pivoted about an axis 26 substantially parallel to axis X-X and fixed with respect to casing 15, casing 16 carrying an inclined surface 27 against which lever 25 is applied by a spring (not shown) or the like. Lever 25 is provided with the recess 25a, FIG. 2, having two walls at right angles to each other, one of these walls serving to stop the wire in the axial direction and the other-one to move said wire in the perpendicular direction when said lever 25 is rotated.

The introduction of a wire of any length into each of the grooves may be performed either manually or mechanically. In this last case, the machine includes at least one wire feeding device comprising a support 28 for a wire spool 29 (FIG. 2), a wire guide 30, preferably of tubular shape, leading to the inlet of a groove 13 and feeding means operated in synchronism with the movement of casings 15 and 16. As shown by FIG. 2, such a feed device includes a first pair of rollers 31, a pair of driving rollers 32 and 33, one of these pairs of rollers 32 being actuated by a reciprocating rack 34 cooperating with the pinion 35 and a fre wheel 36. Pinion 35 in mesh with the rack is given a ret; irocating rotation movement whereby the free wheel, and consequently roller 32, have an intermittent rotation always in the same direction so as intermittently to drive the feed wire A a distance equal to the length of an elementary wire 1 with its bent ends 1a and 1b.

As rings 3 and 4 are pushed into position, while support is still in position, it is necessary to insert ring 3 on support 10 before the wires are introduced into the grooves. For this purpose, support 10 includes a second cylindrical portion 37 of a diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of ring 3. Advantageously, the right hand edge of ring 3 is brought to the level of shoulder 12 when support 10 is driven to its limit position in its casing and for this purpose it sufiices to provide casing 15 with a shoulder 38 to limit the displacements of ring 3 toward the left..

The operation of this machine is as follows.

Ring 3 is engaged on the cylindrical portion 37 of support 10 and sleeve 2 is then slipped on the grooved cylindrical portion 11 of said support. Either manually or through automatic feeding means, wire A is introduced into a groove 13 until it is stopped by lever (FIG. 2). Casing 16 is then moved toward the left. Oblique surface 27 first causes lever 25 to swing, which partly bends the free end of the wire (FIG. 3). Then, push-piece 14 pinches, between its end face 21 and the end face 22 of cylindrical portion 11, the partly bent end of the wire so as to give it the form preparatory to its wedging, as shown at 1b, the bearing pressure being limited by spring 19 (FIG. 4). Finally, spring 18 yields, which causes support 10 to move rearwardly, the portion of wire A intended to form the end 1a being thus bent at right angles by contact with the edge of ring 3 and with the end face 23 of casing 15. Immediately after this, the end faces 24 and 23 of casings 16 and 15 respectively come into contact with the end In of the wire and cut it. The same operations may be repeated for every wire 1 after relative rotation of support 10 and of the feed device or alternately the operations are simultaneously performed for all the wires if the machine includes a number of feed devices equal to the number of grooves 13 of cylindrical portion 11.

Wires 1 are thus positioned, shaped and dimensioned in the desired manner.

It merely remains to drive ring 3 over sleeve 2 and subsequently ring 4 in a similar manner.

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to be a practical and efiicient embodiment of my invention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

l. A machine for manufacturing sockets for use in cooperation with plug-in members, such sockets comprising a multiplicity of elementary contact wires stretched inside a rigid cylindrical sleeve where they are located at rest along the generatrices of one family of generatrices of a hyperboloid of revolution about the axis of said sleeve, said wires being fixed by wedging of their bent ends between the outer wall of said sleeve and the respective inner walls of two rings slipped with a force fit on the respective ends of said sleeve, which machine comprises, in combination, four elements in alignment with said axis, the first of said elements being a support having a cylindrical portion capable of accommodating said sleeve thereon and provided with rectilinear grooves having all the same obliquity with respect to said axis and adapted to receive said wires, said cylindrical portion extending in overhanging fashion from the remainder of said support, said remainder of said support forming an abutment shoulder for said sleeve mounted on said cylindrical portion, the second of said elements being a push-piece located opposite said cylindrical portion, the third and fourth of said elements being respectively a casing mounted for slidably guiding said support and a casing for slidably guiding said push-piece, means operatively connected with said casings for moving them axially toward and away from each other, and spring means interposed between each of said two first mentioned elements and the corresponding casing for urging said two first mentioned elements toward each other, the spring means interposed between said push-piece and the corresponding casing being weaker than the other spring means, said two first mentioned elements having respective end faces located opposite each other adapted to pinch between them and to bend outwardly any wire end extending beyond said end face of said support, said two casings having respective end faces located opposite each other arranged to cooperate together in shearing fashion for cutting said wire at a point located radially beyond the cylindrical surface of said cylindrical portion of said support and, in the axial direction, approximately at the level of said abutment shoulder when said support is pushed to the maximum distance against the action of said spring means interposed between it and the corresponding casing.

2. A machine according to claim 1 further including abutment means mounted at a distance beyond said end face of said support portion for limiting the distance to which a wire of any length located in one of said grooves can extend beyond said last mentioned end face, said last mentioned abutment means being operatively connected with said casings so that in response to displacements of said casings toward each other, said last mentioned abutment means is moved outwardly to bend the wire end in contact therewith.

3. A machine according to claim 1 further comprising at least one wire feeding device which includes a wire spool, a wire guide for wire unwound from said spool, said guide leading toward the inlet of one of said grooves and means operatively connected with said casings for intermittently feeding wire from said spool to said wire guide in' accordance with the relative movements of said casings. 

